Plan ahead: Events in all corners of the Capital Region

ALBANY — An open mike for literary responses and reactions to the Occupy Albany

Occupy Wall Street movement will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the UAG Gallery, 247 Lark St.

Read your best or worst anti-corporate screed or bring poems, songs and rants inspired by the fight for economic justice.

The open mike will be held in conjunction with the current exhibit at the gallery, “Occupy UAG,” visual art from the Occupy Albany movement, and is being sponsored by The Poetry Motel Foundation, in partnership with the Upstate Artists Guild.

SCOTIA — A benefit for Schoharie relief, Three Spirits tell Stories of Shining Moments, will take place at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Glen Sanders Mansion, 1 Glen Ave.

The stories by Kent Busman, Joe Doolittle and Harlan Ratmeyer will warm participants’ hearts and bring laughter to their voices.

Busman directs the Fowler Camp and Conference Center, Reformed Church in America; Doolittle leads a not-for profit health care quality initiative, and Ratmeyer is director of pastoral care at Albany Medical Center and Pastor of the 1st Reformed Church of Bethlehem.

The program is being co-sponsored with Story Circle at Proctors. Cost will be $31 a person, including entertainment, dinner, tax and tip. Additional support will be appreciated.

NISKAYUNA — The 39th annual antiques show and sale will take place Jan. 20 and 21 at the Niskayuna Reformed Church, 3041 Route 7.

Hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 21.

Admission will cost $3. Refreshments will be available for purchase.

For more information, call 785-5575.

Winter Lights benefits interfaith effort

ALBANY — Winter Lights: A Spiritual and Intergenerational Celebration of

Stories, Song and Dance from Many Religious Traditions will take place at 2 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Americas, 283 Central Ave.

The event will be a benefit for Children at the Well, youth interfaith storytelling, a project of Interfaith Story Circle.

Refreshments will be served. Suggested donation will be $10 individuals and $15 families. For more information, call 374-0637 or go to http://www.childrenatthewell.org.

Author to discuss Sunday murder case at museum

BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE — Craig Brandon, former Times Union reporter and author of “Murder in the Adirondacks,’’ will discuss that area’s most famous murder case at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Adirondack Museum, 9097 State Route 30.

The 1906 case where Chester Gillette murdered Grace Brown took place in Big Moose Lake in Herkimer County and was the subject of Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 book, “An American Tragedy,’’ and the Hollywood movie, “A Place in the Sun.’’

Cost to attend will be $5, free for museum members and children. The talk is being sponsored by the Glenn and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life for year-round residents of the Adirondack Park.

Orientations will be followed by 12 hours of specific tutor training, offering methods, materials and lesson-planning ideas.

Volunteers will work with area adults who read at or below the 5th grade level to improve their reading, writing, math and or English speaking skills.

The adult learners have specific life goals such as finding, retaining, or improving employment, passing the GED, getting a driver’s license, helping a child read, reading labels on prescription medicine, or passing the citizenship test.

For more information, call Maria Lange, 583-1232.

Register by Jan. 20 for Clifton Park Idol

CLIFTON PARK — Town residents must register by Jan. 20 to enter Clifton Park Idol, a feature of the annual Winter Fest on Feb. 11 at various locations in town.

Registration is open for 15 spots in two age categories, for a total of 30 entrants.

Clifton Park Idol is open to town residents only and contestants will be divided into two age divisions: ages 6 through 12 and ages 13 through 17.

Contestants may sign up at Town Hall or through the mail, include three song choices and a notice of parental consent.

WYNANTSKILL — Drop off items for local veterans who get service at the Stratton VA Medical Center Hosptial in Albany at the St. Jude’s Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast 8 to 11 a.m. Sunday in Dammann Hall, 24 Dana Ave.

Cost will be $6, $3 for children six to 12, and children younger than six can eat free.